Figurine having improved inertia characteristics



S. ROBBINS March 28, 1967 FIGURINE HAVING IMPROVED INERTIACHARACTERISTICS Filed March 4, 1965 INVENTOR BY KM QM ATTORNEY UnitedStates te This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser.No. 388,133, filed Aug. 7, 1964, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a figurine having a disproportionately largehead structure so that it may better be used to represent well-knownpersonages. In particular, it relates to one having certain structuralfeatures and material selection such that the figurine may be properlybalanced even with such a large head and without the necessity for alarge base structure.

In the past, figurines have been made that were capable of representingwell-known personages, but had the problem that either a normal sizehead relative to the body had to be used, or a wide base or othersupporting structure was necessary in order to enable the figurine tostand with a reasonable degree of stability. This problem is emphasizedwhen the figurine had a head substantially as long as the body itself,since even a slight draft on the large head could cause it to fall.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to create a figurine havinga relatively small body portion and a large head portion capable ofshowing details of facial characteristics, but which figurine issufficiently stable so that it may stand by itself. Such bodyproportions permit accentuation of the head size to further recognition,without requiring that the entire figure be large.

It is a further object of this invention to produce such a figurinewhich has good balance characteristics with a minimum, if any, basestructure over and beyond the feet of the figurine itself and preferablywithout the necessity for adding any weight to the feet.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a figurinewhich may be economically made of molded plastic materials, but whichhas ability to show facial details with sufiicient clarity so that thepersonages in question may be readily identified.

It has been discovered that these and other objects of this inventionmay be accomplished by making the head and body portions of theinvention of dissimilar plastic materials, both of which are moldable,with the walls of the head of sufiicient thinness so that the center ofgravity of the assembled figurine is in the body portion. Preferably thespecific gravity of the head material is greater than that of the bodymaterial. The plastics in question should also be compatible with oneanother and be capable of a sufiicient frictional relationship to oneanother, such that the figurine may be easily assembled, but in whichthe head will retain its relative position on the body.

Turning to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an example of a figurine of the type of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the figurine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross section showing a modification of myinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a simple test for center of gravityof the finished figurine.

Turning to FIG. 1, there is shown a figurine 1 having a head 2 and abody portion 3. The body portion 3 has feet 6 with fiat undersurfaces 7generally perpendicular to the axis of figurine 1, so that the figurinemay stand on feet 6.

It will be noted that head 2 is of approximately the same length as bodyportion 3. Head 2 and body portion 3 are of dissimilar plastic materialand are joined ice at the neck 8. If desired, the head may have hair 4attached in any desired manner.

Since the head is substantially larger than it would be in a properlyproportioned figurine, it is possible for the head to show facial andother details sufiicient to make the figurine easily recognizablewithout the necessity for the over-all figurine being too large in sizeto be conveniently used.

FIG. 2 shows the figurine of FIG. 1 in cross section so that thestructure and body proportions may be more readily observed. Twomeasurement arrows, identified as B for body and H for head, are shownin FIG. 2, showing the relative lengths of the body and the headportions. In the preferred form of my invention, the head has a lengthapproximately equal to the length of the body or slightly less. In thepractice of my invention the ratio of the length of the head to thelength of the body varies from about 1:1 to about 2:5.

The head and the body are each made of moldable plastic material, butare of dissimilar, though compatible, plastics. The material which thebody is made of must be of sufficient stiffness to support the weight ofthe head and keep the figurine from bending. The preferred method ofmanufacture is through injection molding. It has been found that for thebody portion, thermoplastic materials having a relatively low specificgravity are preferred. These would include such plastic materials as,for example, cellulose acetate or polyethylene. The specific gravitiesof desirable materials are generally in the range of about 0.9 to about1.3.

The head, on the other hand, should be made of plastic material that isable to give great detail, preferably have a certain amount offlexibility, and be of a material that can be finished as desired. Thebest plastic materials for this purpose have higher specific gravities,such as polyvinyl chloride, and normally the head would be manufacturedby rotational molding of the polyvinyl. Plastic materials having desiredcharacteristics generally have a specific gravity in the range fromabout 1.2 to about 1.7.

The plastic materials used must be compatible with one another, andwhich would have compatible plasticizers. In addition, they must be suchas could frictionally engage one another so that the head may beretained on the body with the advantage of frictional as well as lockingfit.

With a head that is of a length approximating the body portion, thetotal volume of the head will be much greater than the total volume ofthe body. This will lead to a top heavy configuration, normallyrequiring a special stand of some nature to enable the figurine toremain in a standing position. This is especially so if the specificgravity of the head material is greater than that of the body.Accordingly, I have provided that the head 2 will be hollow, as shown inFIG. 2, and will have a thin walled construction. Thus, the head willhave an outer surface 15 and an inner surface 16 with the thicknessbeing the distance between the two surfaces. This thickness does notnecessarily have to be uniform throughout the head, but can be varied,depending upon the particular features in question. It should, however,be of sufificient thinness such that the gross weight of the head isless than the gross weight of the body, so that the center of gravity ofthe completed doll lies within the body portion 3. The center of gravityof the doll shown in FIG. 2 is marked in a small circle cg. located inthe body and identified by the numeral 20. Center of gravity 2% isdirectly above feet 6 and their fiat under surfaces 7. For the bestresistance to tumbling upon casual impact, the center of gravity shouldbe in the upper third, by length, of body portion 3. This locationprovides the figurine with the desired balance and inertiacharacteristics.

Body portion 3 has a protruding flange structure 11 at its upper enddefining an interlocking recess 12 immediately below the flange 11. Head2 has a head socket 13 adapted to receive flange 11 and dimensioned suchthat the lips defining socket 13 fit within interlocking recess 12 tohold head firmly on body portion 3. Thus, there is not only a snap fitbetween the head and the body, but there is also frictional innerengagement.

Turning to FIG. 3, there is shown head 2 and, in this instance, a hollowbody portion 22. The use of such a hollow body portion 22 may bepreferred in certain adaptations of the present invention, dependingupon the molding techniques and plastic materials used. Neveitl eless,because of the relative volumes of the head and body portions, it isnecessary to have the thickness of the head portion such that the centerof gravity once again rests within the body portion. Thus, for example,in the modification, the center of gravity cg. could be as indicated bythe numeral 24 within the body portion.

The effect of the structure of this invention can be readily observed bytaking one of the dolls in question and endeavoring to balance it on afinger such as is shown in FIG. 4. The doll is held in a horizontalposition and a finger placed under the doll. If it can be balanced bythe finger being under any portion of the body portion, it is then knownthat the doll is properly designed, and the center of gravity is locatedwithin the body portion. If, on the other hand, the head portionoverweighs the body portion, then the center of gravity is too high, andthe head should be thinner. If, as is sometimes the case, it is desiredto have the figurine holding something in its bands, such as, forexample, a musical instrument, the weight of the musical instrument mayalso be considered in determining the center of gravity, since it is thetotal center of gravity that is of importance to accomplish the purposesof this invention.

N hen the center of gravity is toward the upper portion of the body, as,for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a finger may be too wide a fulcrum touse for determining the center of gravity. In such instances, it is easyto use the edge of a card, or something similar, for the balance test.

Although the preferred method of practicing this invention is throughthe use of dissimilar plastics of the types described above, there maybe instances where the particular circumstances make it preferable tohave a head and body portion formed of the same type of plastic, as, forinstance, a vinyl or polyethylene. It remains important, under thesecircumstances, however, for the center of gravity to remain in the bodyportion as above described.

There has been shown and described the preferred construction andembodiment of my invention. It is obvious, however, that changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A figurine formed of molded thermoplastic material having a densitylying between 0.9 and 1.7, com-prising:

a large hollow head portion and a small, stiff body portion including abody and supporting feet at the base of a body, said supporting feetbeing directly below said body,

said head portion being frictionally inter-engaged with the said bodyportion, the ratio of the length of said body portion to the length ofsaid head portion being no more than about 2.5 :1,

said head portion having a volume greater than the volume of said bodyportion, but having walls of sufficient thinness, such that the weightof said head portion is less than the weight of said body portion,

said density, volume, and portion weight factors, fixing the center ofgravity of said figurine in said body portion above said feet and in theupper one-third of said body portion, thereby improving the balance andinertia characteristics of said figurine on said supporting feet.

2. A figurine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic materialis selected from the group consisting of a vinyl chloride resin,cellulose acetate resin, and polyethylene,

and said head is formed of thermoplastic material having a higherspecific gravity than the specific gravity of said body material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,464,107 8/1923Pedersen 4687 1,508,420 9/1924 Schwartz et al. 46-87 1,998,864 4/1935Dodge 46-156 2,384,739 5/1959 Ketcham 46--l73 X FOREIGN PATENTS 821,52910/1959 Great Britain.

F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner.

RiCi-IARD C. PINKHAM, Examiner.

1. A FIGURINE FORMED OF MOLDED THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL HAVING A DENSITYLYING BETWEEN 0.9 AND 1.7, COMPRISING: A LARGE HOLLOW HEAD PORTIN AND ASMALL, STIFF BODY PORTION INCLUDING A BODY AND SUPPORTING FEET AT THEBASE OF A BODY, SAID SUPPORTING FEET BEING DIRECTLY BELOW SAID BODY,